BTA Episode 07: The Rise of Team Z
by J-Dub -Silver Enigma
Summary: Sometimes, heroes must go against all the odds to make a name for themselves, even if those odds threaten to kill them.  There is no turning back when your loved ones are in peril.
1. The Capture, Part I

**AN: The Bean Titans Adventures continue on with this—the seventh episode of action-packed thrills!**

**Allow me to explain what will become of this Team Z. First off, they are comprised initially of seven Bean Titans. Secondly (to the point at hand), they will soon become a separate division of the Titans, still remaining allies of the main organization. Finally, "Z" is a part of their title not only because it is the last letter of the alphabet, but primarily on the fact that they used, and will use, every last line of defense to defeat even the most powerful of foes and survive together—as one unit.**

**This episode begins their storyline, nearly two years after Scaly defects from the Bean Titans.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**~BTA Part 7: The Rise of Team Z~**

Chapter 1 — The Capture, Part I

**_Current time: 5:00 PM at Titans Tower (Home Base)—the Mission Room._**

Sweet called the rest of the Legendary 12 in for a conference, to talk about current issues.

"What's the deal today, Sweet?" Mac asked.

"The Acolytes." the orangutan replied. "Not only are they in league with Wrinkle, but it feels as though they give him and his followers more power than necessary to destroy us."

"I feel that too." Mystic said.

"It's a good thing that they haven't attacked us since the tour." Dotty said.

Canyon jumped. Hippity gave him a confused look. "What's with you?" the bunny asked.

"The Acolytes have some sort of plan, right?" Canyon pitched.

"That's the reason why we're assembled here—to figure out just what they want." Sweet said.

"I heard Sylvester say that they're after Durango and Tina. I don't know exactly what the reason is... but it scares me that 'destroying the Titans' is not their main plan."

"Well, I think that's logical because Wrinkle already has dibs on that plan." Kuku stated.

Fleece thought on it for a moment. "Maybe... they want to destroy the family." she guessed.

"What do you mean?" Floppity questioned.

"Remember Vanessa? She was the one who encountered the Acolytes in the first place. Until "**Doomsday"** in San Francisco, she was pushing death by their hands. Once she was dead, they probably sought to finish off the rest—i.e. Durango and Tina."

She made a valid point. Maybe the Acolytes have some form of vendetta on Vanessa's family.

"That's possible... but we can't be too sure of it just yet. Still, it's our best lead." Sweet said.

"Where are Durango and Tina now?" Fancy asked.

Mystic mentally scouted around the Tower. "They're on the roof right now, with Fortress, Mina and Thunderbolt."

"Dep's not with them?" Aurora questioned, recalling that Dep and Fortress are inseparable now.

"Dep decided to put himself in intensive training for a while." Spunky answered.

"Conference dismissed, Legendary 12. Mac and Mystic—you two come with me to check on them." Sweet announced.

The twelve elite Titans split up, ending the meeting.

* * *

Meanwhile, Durango and Thunderbolt (both 21) were consulting about the future with the Oracle Twins (Mina and Tina-both 20)—their future wives. The girls were pregnant (Mina to Durango, and Tina to Thunderbolt, of course) and were expecting to give birth in about a week. Collectively, the four of them questioned parenthood. Fortress (age 20) was out of the question, as she was not ready for that big step yet; she and Dep are not even betrothed yet.

"We're almost dads, dude." Durango said the Thunderbolt.

"I know. I'm nervous, man."

"Yeah, me too... but we gotta start somewhere."

"What should we do first, then?" Thunderbolt asked.

The air around them suddenly moved, and the two of them sensed an enemy nearby. It was Scurry, using Flash Step to get behind Durango.

"Blood Fang Slash!" the beetle announced, prepared to slice the horse in half. Durango used Flash Step to evade Scurry just in time; Thunderbolt followed him while Fortress assembled with the both of them, since Mina and Tina were in no position to fight.

"Scurry." Durango identified the enemy.

"In the flesh. I'd watch myself if I were any of you... you don't stand a chance against me. I'd kill you in a heartbeat, but my intentions are my own." Scurry said.

"Still taking orders from Wrinkle? Maybe you should make your own decisions." Fortress said.

"Watch your Scottish tongue, girl..." Scurry retorted.

"I'm IRISH!"

"What difference does it make? They sound the same to me."

"You're an idiot, dude." Thunderbolt added to the mix.

"Oh? Need I remind you again, that you five are the idiots? You're standing within twenty feet of someone that can kill you without second thoughts!"

"Then why are you still talking? Prove it, beetle." Durango implored.

The elevator opened, and Sweet, Mystic and Mac emerged from it, immediately seeing Wrinkle's assassin.

"Hey, stop!" Sweet demanded, before attempting to join the fight with Mac and Mystic.

"Not this time... Swords of Revealing Light!" Scurry responded, trapping the three elite Bean Titans and the Oracle Twins inside of a field of golden light swords for three minutes. He turned back to the horses and thought: _"I'd better make this quick..."_

"What now?" Fortress questioned.

"Fortress, see if you can do anything about the Swords. If you can't, protect Mina and Tina." Durango told her.

"So I guess that means we're fighting Scurry." Thunderbolt said, as Fortress separated from the two horses.

"Yeah. One more thing, T-Bolt..." Durango said, prompting the brown horse to listen. "I know that Scurry's tough, but let's not fight at full strength right now."

"JUST WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING?" Scurry questioned the horses, who immediately jumped at the beetle with their Legendary strength.

"None of your business!" Durango shouted at him. He and Thunderbolt attempted to knock the beetle out with punches.

Scurry stopped their fists. "Big mistake. Crimson Tornado!" The beetle clenched their fists while he began to spin around rapidly, causing a red whorl to swallow the horses inside of a cyclone of energy blades.

After the wind settled, Durango and Thunderbolt were nowhere in sight.

"No..." Tina murmured, worried about the outcome.

Scurry crossed his arms repeatedly. "Just like that..." he said, claiming that they are dead.

"Psionic Beam!" uttered Durango's voice from above, firing the light blast upon Scurry.

"What?" said a startled Scurry, who quickly used Flash Step to avoid the blast. He was in the air now, but then he heard the sound of electricity growing in volume. He gasped softly, before seeing Thunderbolt dropping down on Scurry with his elemental version of the Rasengan—the Pharos Amp. The electric orb connected, sending Scurry down to the roof of the Tower inside of a surging electric pod.

When Scurry crashed on the ground, the other Titans assumed that Thunderbolt got the job done.

"Blind Blood." Scurry whispered, causing an energy blade to cut Durango's back instantly. Durango fell down towards the southern coast of Titans Island. When this happened, Tina fainted unexpectedly.

"Tina? What happened to her?" Mina cried.

_"You didn't know?"_ questioned Mina's mental conscience. _"Scurry used a speed technique other than Flash Step to hit Tina with a tranquilizer—eventually putting her mind to rest, temporarily."_

_"Well, sorry—I'm not as psychic as you."_ Mina replied.

"You ass!" Fortress yelled, rushing toward the beetle as he got up.

"Blood Fang Slash." Scurry said, attempting to slice the unicorn in half.

"Aquatic Illusion!" Fortress reacted, summoning five to six rising pillars of water to surround Scurry and enshroud Fortress; basically, it was the water form of the "Double Team" Pokemon move.

Scurry scoffed. "You won't get away from me... Crimson Diffusion!" The beetle generated great energy into his arms and then stomped the ground, while extending his arms and releasing that energy. A swift and "sharpened" burst wave expanded from Scurry abruptly, dispelling Fortress's illusion and knocking both her and Thunderbolt unconscious. This move took a lot out of Scurry (now exhausted), but he was left to carry out his mission.

"If you will, I'll be taking Tina now." he then said.

The Swords of Revealing Light vanished, freeing all the Bean Titans who were trapped in them. They were anticipant on finishing Scurry off, until a new power awakened near them... from the southern coast. As they felt the power, they looked towards the coast to see a pillar of fire suddenly rise and soon disperse, revealing a presence inside of it. Durango immediately flew back over the Tower at the full strength that he did not intend to use in this battle: his Ascended Legendary level, Ultimate Mode. In this form, much of his long silver hair was no longer rested on his back. The top half of his hair stood up in two "waves" (like Legendary Super Saiyan Broly); the other half detached from his spine. Also, his wrists and ankles were shrouded by a ring of fire, which grew more intense in proportion to the amount of power he exhibited. Statistically, his power and speed are greatly increased from his ordinary Legendary status.

"Stop. He's mine." Durango told the others boldly. They heeded him, standing down.

"Are you sure you wanna do that?" Scurry asked, still thinking that he will win. He started off towards Durango.

_"I haven't really practiced my Ultimate form as the others have... so I can only sustain this form for about a minute. That's all I'll need."_ Durango thought. "I should be asking YOU that!" Durango then bursted towards Scurry at a high speed, with his fire Rasengan—the Dragon Bomb. He hit Scurry right in the chest with the flaming orb of energy, with an explosion of fire upon impact.

Scurry hit the roof harder this time, and he did not get up after landing. Durango beat him; the other Bean Titans were impressed.

"You're not laying a finger on me or Tina..." Durango stated.

"Galick Gun!" Wrinkle said, catching Durango off-guard and instantly shutting him down.

"No..." Durango murmured weakly, landing on the roof with Scurry.

"Scurry, Scurry..." Wrinkle said, a little disappointed in his comrade. "You could've had the fight won if you used the Sonido to your advantage."

"Sonido?" Sweet interrogated.

"I will demonstrate it for you, but..." Wrinkle started to say, before putting Durango, Tina and Scurry in a pile near the west edge of the roof within a few of seconds almost completely undetected, "you couldn't see it if you tried to."

Mystic was the first to see that Wrinkle had already stolen Durango and Tina. _"How did he...?"_ she thought, shaken by his speed.

"Stop!" Sweet demanded, rushing in to stop his nemesis.

"Sorry to upset you... but our job here is done." Wrinkle then warped far away from Titans Tower, with Scurry and the two captive horses.

Sweet now thought that Durango's and Tina's chances of survival are zero, thinking that Wrinkle would deliver them to the Acolytes. "Damn it!" he muttered, falling to his knees.

"Where's Durango?" Thunderbolt asked, after he and Fortress were revived by Mac and Mystic.

Fortress looked around and assumed the worst. "Don't tell me that—" she started.

"Wrinkle took Durango and Tina... and I hope he doesn't give them to the Acolytes." Mina said.

Sweet began to sound hopeless. "That's just who he's going to give them to. And if we did something about it, we wouldn't live to see the next day. We're out of their league, so we might as well—"

Mac warped to Sweet and covered his mouth. "Don't you **dare **finish that sentence... remember who you are, Sweet, and think about your team." Mac said, removing his wing.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks." The orangutan sighed. "We have to think about how we can get them back somehow. Let's go inside."

**/-/**

Just what is the Acolytes' evil plan on Durango and Tina?

Find out in the next chapter.


	2. The Capture, Part II

Chapter 2 — The Capture, Part II

The scene shifts over to Wrinkle's hideout—the **_former_** and so-proclaimed untouchable Area 51 base.

Durango regains his consciousness and finds himself sealed inside of a glass containment capsule. "What? Hey!" he exclaimed, getting up and knocking on the glass. He saw Wrinkle and about seven other members of his "mafia" around the room. Tina was trapped in another capsule across from him. She awoke before he did, curious about where she was.

"Durango!" she called.

"You're in chains... why?" Durango questioned, noticing the rings of white metal that locked around her arms and neck.

"I don't know..."

Scurry, now fully healed, unlocks Tina's capsule. She tries to break for it, but Scurry stops her by firing a Blood Slash in front of her as a warning. "Consider your life... before you act on it." Scurry told her.

"What do you want with me?" Tina asked, with a bit of fear in her voice.

Scurry grasped the chains that hung down from her arms. "If you want to know, come with me quietly."

"Jerk!" she blurted out at the beetle, attempting to kick his back despite her pregnancy.

"I warned you." Scurry said, before gripping the chain harder. This was a special chain, in which a shock was delivered to Tina's arms and legs, stopping her motion. "I told you think before you act... now you HAVE to follow me."

Scurry was not joking, as Tina had temporarily lost control of her arms and legs; they acted on Scurry's request. The shock was a nerve-controlling jolt. Scurry led her to Wrinkle.

"Finally awake, are ya?" Wrinkle said to the horse. She spat in his face, but he was not surprised. "Yeah, I thought so." The bulldog then activated a hologram near him, and the image of Shockmutt (age 18—3rd seat of the Acolytes) appeared.

"Ah, so she is captured." Shockmutt said, seeing the white horse held captive.

"She and Durango." Wrinkle replied.

"Excellent."

"What's next on your agenda?" Wrinkle asked the Acolyte.

"Killing the both of them is later on in our plan." Shockmutt stated, approving the Titans' guess about the Acolytes' intentions. The dog noticed Tina's "extra package". "Put her in the De-Splicer." she ordered Wrinkle.

"De-Splicer?" Durango questioned, seeing the giant glass chamber in the center of the room. He saw his sister being pushed and sealed inside of it.

"What are you trying to separate?" she shrieked at Shockmutt.

"You and... someone else." she responded, pertaining to the child in her womb.

Tina knew then. "No! You can't!"

"I don't think you have a choice." Wrinkle marked.

"No!" Durango yelled, in disapproval of the electronic abortion. "Don't you do anything to her!"

"SHUT UP!" Wrinkle shouted abruptly, pressing a button that caused a surge of that nerve-altering lightning to consume Durango, who was then silenced and unable to move a muscle. "Now, begin the de-splicing, Scaly."

"Yes, sir." his new apprentice answered. He had not become one with Reptilius yet, but Wrinkle promised that after the Acolytes' mission was fully accomplished, he would get it done.

The De-Splicer is designed to split apart any two entities that are classified as one. Once started, two walls of lightning slowly close in on the target, who or which has no chance of escape. When the walls collide, the one entity will be split into the two separate ones, that will then be transported to the exit capsules on each side of the glass chamber.

Tina had nowhere to run, as the electric walls closed in on her. Just when she thought that she and her baby were separated, time suddenly stopped. "What happened?" Tina questioned, hearing her voice echo.

_"Don't worry, I stopped time for you."_ Tina's other conscience told her mentally.

Tina put her arms over head and covered her face. _"What am I supposed to do?"_

_"There is one way we can save your child... but it will require the help of your Oracle Twin as well."_ the inner voice told her.

_"She's not here!"_

_"That's why I'm here. Now, this will take a lot of concentration, so listen up. The four of us—me, you, Mina and her second conscience will have to perform the **Trans-Fusion Ritual**. With enough mental effort and cooperation, we can save your child by permanently fusing Mina's with yours."_

_"Fusing them... permanently?"_ Tina uttered, not entirely sure on that idea.

_"It won't be easy, but it's the only way that yours and the baby's survival will be assured. The cost: Mina's second conscience and I will have to sacrifice ourselves as a part of the ritual. That way, Mina will live as well, since this is a very painful early birth process... however, the child will still be fully developed because of its genes from four different people."_

_"Say no more. I'll do it."_ Tina responded.

_"All right. Now, when I restart time, I will have notified Mina about this. Once I do this, the both of you will have to surpress as much pain as possible and give birth entirely with your minds."_ the voice stressed.

_"Okay..."_

Time was started again.

* * *

While in the thought process, Thunderbolt and Fortress stopped when they saw Mina on the floor in what seemed to them as labor.

"Mina!" Thunderbolt cried, concerned for his sister. "Is the baby coming?"

Mina clenched her teeth and closed her eyes. "You could say that!"

"Is it really that painful?" Fortress asked, new to the experience.

"YA THINK?" Mina replied loudly.

"It's okay, sis. Just breathe..." he said, moving down towards her legs.

As excruciating as it was, she still tried to talk through her yells of pain. "Thunderbolt, I'm not pushing down there... I'm pushing from my mind!"

Thunderbolt budged from hearing what she said. "How do you do **that**?"

"I can't explain that now! Ow-ow-ow-AIIII!" she shrieked. Other Bean Titans came and surrounded her.

After another few minutes, her belly finally shrunk down to its normal size, but her baby did not emerge from her womb. Seeing the results, many of the Bean Titans went their separate ways. Mina was exhausted, laying down on her back. Thunderbolt and Fortress got closer to her.

"Fortress..." Mina called.

"Hmm?"

"Take your time, before making a big step with Dep, please." the pink horse advised her, before blanking out to rest.

Thunderbolt picked his sister up. _"I wonder how Tina's doing right now..."_ he thought.

* * *

The de-splicing is complete, as Tina is motionless inside of one of the exit capsules, while the **"one" newborn horse** floats around in the other.

"It is done, Shockmutt." Wrinkle announced. "But there's something odd about this baby..."

"Let it slide for now. Now, I'll take it from here—deliver all three of them to me here at the Acolytes' Base. I'm sending you a map now—keep it out of the wrong hands."

Wrinkle received it. "Where are the other Acolytes?" he asked.

"They left me and Sylvester in charge of the base; they left on important business. I would appreciate it if some of you could manage the base with us."

"Can do. Ending transmission." Wrinkle said, turning the hologram off. "Reptilius, Smoochy and Scurry: you're coming with me to their base. The rest of you: Korgon will be here shortly, and he will be in charge while I'm away. Is that understood?"

"YES, SIR!"

The four evildoers took Durango, Tina and the newborn and warped out of the base.

**/-/**

It is getting quite intense this early in the story... and it only gets better from here on out.

Stay tuned.


	3. Thunderbolt's Bravery

Chapter 3 — Thunderbolt's Bravery

The next day, Thunderbolt spent the entire day watching Mina rest in bed. He still did not know exactly what his sister had to go through, but he found it strange that the baby did not come directly out of her.

_"Pushing from the mind... what was she talking about? Is that even possible?"_ he wondered, finding it improbable to give birth solely on thought. However, he knows that she and Tina are self-proclaimed as the Oracle Twins. He figured that they must have used some sort of psychic manuver to accomplish this feat.

Thinking about the situation at hand, Thunderbolt darted out of Mina's room to find Sweet. The wait was over, and Thunderbolt desired to take action. When he found the Great Hero, Thunderbolt wore a determined look on his face.

"What is it?" the orangutan said, wondering about his facial expression.

"Permission to give you my request, Sweet?"

"Granted."

"We have to go and save Durango and Tina." the brown horse stated.

"I know that, that's why we're putting as much thought as we can into this matter."

Thunderbolt got a bit antsy. "For how long—another year? Thought can't stop time, sir... and their time is about to end, fast. Why not save them now?"

Sweet sighed. "It's because that we're in over our heads if we go in to battle the Acolytes without a plan. We would be dead before we could think of one."

Thunderbolt groaned loudly and started to fuss at the leader. "Why are you honking so much about the big bad Acolytes, huh? Maybe you and the rest of the Legendary 12 have your own worries and concerns about this whole deal... but to me, sometimes you have to forget about what's what and just go! Seriously, I don't care what the hell that the Acolytes would do to me when my friends' lives are at stake. I'll save them myself if I have to!"

Sweet was startled by Thunderbolt's sudden eruption. Taking his words into consideration, Sweet recomposed himself. "All right then, Thunderbolt. You have my permission to go off and rescue your friends... however, you will have no assistance from anyone in the Legendary 12. Is that understood?"

"To no disrespect, I won't need your help." Thunderbolt said calmly, immediately turning to exit the Tower.

Soon, the determined horse walked by Fortress, who came to him to see what his rush was.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To save Durango and Tina... and I won't be coming back until I do." he answered.

"Should I come with you to help?"

"I need you to stay here until my sister is back on her feet. I can't have any of the Legendary 12's help... but I can call you I need yours. Later." Within the next second, Thunderbolt was already outside of the Tower and in the air, using Lightning Dash to fly away.

"I hope he'll be alright..." Fortress said, turning back to go and look after Mina.

* * *

Because he was in a fit, Thunderbolt flew entirely too much north instead of west to search for Wrinkle's base. He knew what city the base was near, but he had not been near the place before. He wound up in the middle of the Kansas, within Tornado Alley, where tornadoes are more likely to start up. Luckily, he saw no spirals of wind in the desolate area. Still, he figured that he would find the culprits somewhere.

"Where are they?" Thunderbolt murmured to himself, landing on the ground. He then activated his Titans wristwatch to use the map and compass inside the exceedingly large database. He realized that he had been moving too far north; he needed to go almost directly west now. After turning in that direction, he got a funny feeling.

"Did it just get hotter here...?" he asked himself, looking up to what appeared to be the sun. It was moving fast towards him, and as it got closer, he figured out that it was not the sun. It was Snort's Blaze Ball on a crash course to Thunderbolt, who moved out of the way before it hit him. When he looked back, the bull appeared out of the smoke, joined by Burn, Bruno and Daisy (a cow—Snort's wife).

"Let me tell ya now, you're not gonna find our base out here." Bruno told him.

"Yeah, so turn back while you still can." Burn advised the Bean Titan.

"No." Thunderbolt responded.

"We're actually giving you a freebie here! Look at your odds, dumbass: four against one. I can tell you for a fact that it only takes one of us to chop you down." Daisy said bluntly.

"This is the last time I'll say this... I DON'T CARE!" Thunderbolt said, immediately utilizing his Ultimate Mode as he jumped towards the evil crew. His appearance in Ultimate Mode is primarily changed with his hairstyle; most of his brown hair—except the front, which is styled like Cloud of FF7—now stands up with an electrical charge instead of flat and wavy down his back. "Thunder Fist" were his next words, emulating Canyon's move and using it on the four baddies, who then evaded the punch.

They were lucky to have missed his fist, because it made a crater in the ground from the intensity of the static that Thunderbolt exhibited.

"Damn! Canyon never had **that** much power in his Thunder Fist..." Burn said. Suddenly, he and his group sensed Thunderbolt behind them, who seemed to have used the Flash Step technique. Apparently, they have not seen anything from the horse yet.

"You're finished. Thunder Burst!" Thunderbolt announced, using the special blast that Fortress taught him and his friends. It was a great and powerful surge of lightning forced upon Wrinkle's associates, pushing them all 50 meters away from Thunderbolt.

Burn got up first and helped the rest of his crew. "What kind of blast is that? It knocked us down to size... but how?"

"I'm thinking that too." Bruno concurred. "The runt should've been dead before he started fighting us! Aren't the Acolytes' power reserves working for us?"

"I know what it is." Daisy said. "For our potential power to be in effect, all the Acolytes must be present and accounted for at their base. Shockmutt said that she and Sylvester were the only ones there right now. In other words, our Doomsday power is all we're getting."

"It doesn't mean jack squat right now! There's four of us and one of him." Snort blurted out.

"Oh really?" Thunderbolt said, appearing near them again. "Electro Burst!" He pushed them back again, but this Burst was even stronger than the first one. It was evident now that there were two levels of Bursts. After firing, Thunderbolt was exhausted, but still in standby. "That blast just now was my strongest one. Looks like you guys aren't getting up."

The horse walked on by them, aiming to progress onward to save Durango and Tina from Wrinkle and the Acolytes. He widened his eyes when he sensed that the four villains were back on their feet again.

"That... does it." Snort growled, pointing below Thunderbolt's feet. Snort was using his strongest move, Hellfire Pentagram. He quickly created a pentagon under his target, and then an eruption of intense fire swallows his target, causing severe damage to him or her.

Being afflicted with this, Thunderbolt gets knocked out of his Ultimate Mode and winds up badly singed on the ground. His wristwatch beeped a low pitch, which meant that his health was below 10%. That attack was extremely dangerous.

_"I can't move..."_ Thunderbolt found out, as Snort stood over him.

"You're dead now. Blaze Bl—" the bull halted his words when he then saw a "wave" of earth preparing to crash on him. "Oh, fu—!" he uttered, before the hard rock broke upon him and sent him back to his crew.

They looked up and saw the cavalry: Dep, Fortress and Mina were coming to the aid of Thunderbolt. Once they got to him, Fortress used her Healing Water to give Thunderbolt more energy.

"You're still alive, T-Bolt?" Fortress questioned, seeing the odds were not at all in his favor.

"Why did you all come?" he asked back.

"Dude, we're in this together... Durango and Tina are our friends too." Dep stated.

Thunderbolt smiled faintly. "So you guys aren't turning back either, huh?"

"Of course we aren't." Mina responded. She was able to fight, now that nothing was holding her back.

"Besides, I have an unfinished fight with Snort." Fortress added.

"I'll handle Burn and Bruno." Dep said.

"All right then. Leave Daisy to me." Thunderbolt said, immediately using Flash Step to get in front of the cow, who gave an angry moo from the surprise he gave her. "Hey, look behind you..."

Daisy turned around, thinking that the horse had created a clone behind her. "What...?"

"Gotcha... Pharos Amp!" Thunderbolt delivered the electric orb to her stomach, sending her flying far off from the battle site. "She ain't coming back..." he claimed quietly, clapping his hands together.

"You son of a—!" Snort cursed at Thunderbolt, rushing in to attack him. To his dismay, Snort was stopped by Fortress's Tearing Torrent, which pushed him back.

"This time, I'll win." the unicorn proclaimed.

"Prove it, bitch."

"Gladly... Aquatic Illusion." She summoned the water pillars to dance around Snort while she hid in them.

Snort tried to guess, but could not make a decision as to where she was. "Which one are you in?"

"Actually... I'm not in any of them." Fortress told him, standing on the air above the water pillars. "Flash Flood" were her next words, and upon them, all five pillars converged and trapped Snort inside of a water sphere prison. It was not the same one she used with Dep. This was designed to strip the air away from the target by crushing his or her lungs with heavy water. Fortress then said "Break!", commanding her water prison to immediately make one final compression on Snort and then disperse.

The bull was done for, however, he, along with every other member of Wrinkle's organization, is immortal. Although, it did not mean that they could not be hurt or damaged.

Meanwhile, Dep stood before the Dynamic Duo. "Bring it." Dep said.

"Trigger Fury!" Burn and Bruno both said, firing continuous blasts on Dep. After about fifteen seconds, they waited to see what happened to the dog.

"Armor of the Mantle... sorry guys." Dep said, only taking on a minimal amount of damage. "My turn. Quicksand Trap!" Dep slapped his hands on the ground and used a technique that somehow mended the duo's feet to the ground, rendering them unable to move.

"Let's end this." Thunderbolt said. Mina and Fortress stood by him. Dep smiled because he knew the move that they were using.

"Water Burst!" Fortress shouted.

"Thunder Burst!" said Thunderbolt.

"Wind Burst!" Mina followed.

"Burst Merge: Tempest Storm!" all three of them simultaneously announced, as all three blasts combined together for a hydroelectric hurricane gale. After the attack, Burn and Bruno were nowhere in sight.

Thunderbolt fell to his knees, relieved. "Thank goodness..." he uttered.

"It's a good thing I have a few Megalixirs for us." Dep said, using the first of the restoring potions on all the Titans.

"You all are alright... that's good news." said Scorch, arriving on the scene.

"You were following us?" Fortress interrogated.

"Think of me as more of a guardian." said the dragon.

Mina sat down in front of the group. "I never did tell you guys about what happened with the baby."

"We're listening." Thunderbolt said.

"You know how Tina and I have another conscience, right? It was them who helped us."

"Wait... you **and** Tina at the same time?" Dep asked.

"Uh-huh. It turned out that she was going through labor at the same time that I was, but Tina was close to having the baby forced out of her by one of Wrinkle's contraptions. When Tina's 'other voice' told me this, I thought that her baby would die... until the voice explained the Trans-Fusion Ritual. Basically, it was designed to permanently fuse our childs into one independent child, with the complete sacrifice of two necessary entities, i.e. our other consciences."

Scorch was confused.

"A baby made from two separate ones... permanently." Dep began to think.

"So that means that me, you, Durango and Tina are all the parents of the little tyke." Thunderbolt assumed, still trying to take all of this in.

"I just hope that it's alright..." Mina responded.

"We're not gonna find out sittin' around here. We have to find Wrinkle and make him talk." Scorch said.

"What if we run into an Acolyte?" Fortress questioned.

"Let me tell you guys what I've said before: Durango's, Tina's, and now the newborn's lives are at stake, so if we have to crack down an Acolyte, that's what we'll do. I'm not going back home until they're all safe and sound." Thunderbolt said with confidence.

"Well then, let's follow the sunset—it falls west, where Wrinkle's base is from here." Scorch suggested.

"Let's go." Thunderbolt commanded.

**/-/**

There's the heroic squad: Scorch, Thunderbolt, Mina, Dep and Fortress. However, **this is NOT Team Z**, and they are only just begininng.

Stay tuned.


	4. The Voyage

Chapter 4 — The Voyage

After a couple of hours of flight, the group of Bean Titans reached a portion of the Rocky Mountains. When they thought about moving over the mountains, they ran into a forcefield that Wrinkle's crew put together; apparently, they knew that **someone** would try and rescue their allies. However, they left three passageways open, as a trap to force the Titans into being lured into their clutches.

Luckily, Mina wielded the wind element, and she could trace where air would pass by the mountains. She led the group to a cave, where she sensed that the cave itself, the mountain slope above it, and the underwater passageway below it were the paths that they had to take to pass. The team split up: Scorch went inside the cave, Thunderbolt and Mina scaled the mountain, and Dep and Fortress dove into the water passage.

Swimming in Fortress's breathable aqua sphere, she and Dep slowly made their way through the passage. Soon, they saw Wrinkle's usual marine assault team (Claude, Goochy, Slippery and Jolly) ahead of them.

"How can we fight them?" Dep whispered to Fortress.

"We don't. I can simply constrict them with the water around them. I know they're immortal, but at least that'll stop them from chasing us." she explained.

"Damn, you're good." Dep complimented.

Because of Fortress's adept water skills, they were able to pass by their foes after Fortress slyly stripped their air supplies.

"Forte..." he called her by her nickname (pronounced "four-tay"). It really meant "loud" in musical terms.

"Hmm?"

"Can we stop for a moment?"

"Sure... why?" she asked, noticing that they were only a quarter mile away from the exit.

"I know that this isn't a good time to do this, but... I want you to know that if we make it out of this crisis alive, I want you to be with me just like the others are to each other." Dep took out a diamond ring and presented it to the unicorn before him.

"Oh, Dep..." she uttered, astounded by the sight of the ring.

"Fortress Melody, will you marry me?" Dep asked the life-changing question.

She telepathically moved the ring toward her hand. "Yes, Dep... yes." she answered, immediately hugging him after putting the ring on.

"When this is all over, I want to show you something when we get home." Dep told her. She was so happy, so she agreed to it.

/\/\/\/\/\

Near the peak of the mountain...

"We're almost at the top." Thunderbolt said, seeing the peak.

Mina sighed, stopping in place.

"What's wrong?" her brother asked, looking back.

"I'm just worried about Durango."

"What about Tina?"

"We can always reach other mentally. If something bad happened to Durango—if he was gone... I don't know what I'd do without him." She sniffled.

Thunderbolt climbed down and embraced Mina with one arm. "He's going to be fine... I'll make sure of that." he reassured her.

"So emotional... give me a break!" said one of the Beak Twins, who were accompanied by Wrinkle's teammates that could fly, except for the ostriches.

"Yo, leave her alone..." Thunderbolt warned them.

"Or what? I say that she should get over it, and you plan on giving us a warning? What the hell is she gonna do about it? Nothing! She's too caught up in what's gonna happen to her husband, so all she can do is bitch!"

"SHUT UP!" Mina suddenly responded in anger, displaying her Ultimate Mode. Her white hair doubles in length and stands up a little like Thunderbolt's Ultimate Mode; also, the three bangs in front of her face split into six. To retaliate at the bird's comments, Mina used her Aero Burst (full power Wind Burst) to blow and cut away at all of the foes. After the fierce wind settled down, the enemies were no longer in sight.

Thunderbolt had hung on for dear life, trying not to get taken in by the sharp winds. He looked back at his sister and saw that she was back to normal. "I think they learned their lesson..." he said quietly.

"Yeah. Don't fuck with my emotions." Mina responded, continuing the climb. Her brother followed, but at a distance to let her calm down.

* * *

Inside the cave, Scorch eventually comes upon an open den. He did not expect to travel through a cave this large. Once he set foot into the den, iron gates shut down behind him.

"Great." Scorch uttered, noticing the trap that he was now in.

The rest of Wrinkle's gang (who were not called before) appeared on the other side of the den, led by Korgon (who is Acolyte #13).

"Looks like we have the dragon on a leash now." Korgon presumed, claiming that Scorch was trapped.

_"These odds suck..."_ Scorch thought to himself. "I'd hate to disappoint you guys, but you're gonna need a strong leash!" Scorch immediately powered to his Unleashed Mode, as his fiery aura appeared light blue.

"Just what do you plan to do?" Korgon questioned, lowering his eyebrows.

"Enough to defeat you all. Volcano!" the dragon shouted, shooting the middle of the den with a blue fire bullet from his right wing.

"Is that all?" Korgon asked, not surprised by Scorch's effort.

"Yep."

Korgon was not impressed. "Very well. Attack!" He commanded Wrinkle's troops to attack Scorch.

As they ran closer to the center of the den, Scorch simply turned around and whispered "Rise." At that word, a great and sudden eruption of blue lava arose from the bottom of the den, consumed Wrinkle's lackeys, and sent them through the mountain, flying off to parts unknown.

Korgon jumped out of the volcano and landed on the west side. He wanted to retreat, but Scorch was right behind him.

"Endgame. Blue Star Inferno!" Scorch said, unleashing his trademark fire blast right in front of Korgon, who took it as a direct hit. The Acolyte trembled on the ground, after the fiery impact.

Thunderbolt, Mina, Dep and Fortress appeared on the scene after feeling the mountain being tore open into a blue lava volcano.

Thunderbolt grasped the Acolyte by his robes. "What are you guys doing to Durango and Tina, huh? Tell me now! This isn't a joke, damn it!" Thunderbolt yelled in his face.

"None of your business..." Korgon replied weakly, attempting to pierce his hand through the horse's chest.

Scorch instantly used Flash Step and smashed Korgon's back with his tail. The hit was strong enough that it paralyzed him. "Leave him, T-Bolt. His life is over; he is the first Acolyte to fall at our hands." Scorch claimed, releasing a smokescreen from his mouth to surround the beaten Acolyte.

Thunderbolt walked away from the smoke while Scorch threw an ember on it, causing every particle of smoke to burst into flames. These flames eventually disintegrated Korgon, thus making him defeated. The first Acolyte has fallen.

* * *

After this, the heroes advanced onward and soon reached Wrinkle's base.

"We're here." Scorch said first. "Mina, can you sense anyone here?"

"Actually, no." she responded. This was not to be expected of an "untouchable" base.

"So much for high maintenance..." Thunderbolt marked, as the team moved to the front entrance.

"I'm sure Wrinkle won't mind if we... **_*boom*_** break in." Dep said, busting the doors wide open with ease. One of the doors bounced off of the wall and hit a canister in the center of the main room. The canister flew into Fortress's hands.

"What's that?" Mina asked.

The unicorn opened it up and found a map that had directions on the back of it. She read the directions. "To the Acolytes' Citadel!"

"What?" Thunderbolt exclaimed. It was very unlikely that no villain would leave the base behind; it was even more far-fetched that someone would leave behind the directions to the Acolyte's base.

Fortress flipped the map back over and noticed the picture of the castle that the directions led to. She started breathing heavily.

"What's wrong?" Dep asked.

"That's the Melody Castle... their base is through a portal underneath the castle!"

"You're kidding me..." Mina uttered.

"There's no need to fear." Scorch said.

"Yeah." Thunderbolt followed. "We know where to go now; we can save Durango, Tina and the new baby."

"All the way to Ireland? That'll take days!" Fortress exclaimed.

Mina snapped her fingers because of a good thought. "The nearest Tower is in San Fran... so why don't we just teleport near the castle in less than an hour?"

"Okay... here's another problem—we're standing inside of Wrinkle's base and we have no sense of direction!" Thunderbolt said, raising his voice.

"That's why I'm here. Wind Travel." Mina responded, as a sudden gust of air took the heroes out of Wrinkle's base and on a ride to the sky.

Eventually, they found themselves at the San Francisco Base.

"That scared the bark out of me, man..." Dep uttered, relieved to be back on the ground again.

"Boo!" Mina uttered, creeping up behind the dog, scaring him even more.

"Quit messin' around, y'all. We have a job to do." Scorch said sternly, before entering the Tower. Thunderbolt, Mina and Fortress followed.

"Floating on the wind, past the stars, **and** in my ear? What else could happen?" Dep asked himself, following the group inside.

**/-/**

By now you should see a trend with Ultimate Mode; all the hairstyles change and their elemental strength is shown along with their powers.

Stay tuned.


	5. Legendary Sight

Chapter 5 — Legendary Sight

Within half an hour, the Titans made it to the Melody Castle in Ireland, the point where they would find the Acolyte's base underneath the castle. Scorch led the group into the main ballroom.

"We have to look for a basement, don't we?" Dep questioned.

"Yep. Start searching." Scorch responded.

As they searched, Fortress believed that she was caught in a trance, as some force inside of her was leading her to the black floor medallion in the center of the room, decorated with a musical eighth note in the middle of it. It was almost as if the spirits of her true parents were leading her to the answer.

Dep saw her almost sleep-walking to the medallion and looking at it. "What is it, Forte?" he asked. The others surrounded her.

"Mystic told me something about these 'secret trials'. I don't know exactly what they are... but I know now about the riddle that will lead us into them."

"These trials are a place?" Thunderbolt asked, confused.

"Yes. The riddle asks: What force leads to a destination and fine-tunes a building nation?" Fortress explained.

"And this would be...?" Mina questioned.

"A crescendo." Fortress answered. She then whistled a tone quietly and then gradually increased the sound of the same tone to where it was loud. When she did that after answering the riddle, the eighth note in the floor medallion glowed white and revealed a shaft. "The trials are ahead." Fortress said.

"Good. Let's go find that portal." Scorch suggested, jumping in first. He was followed by Mina and Thunderbolt.

Fortress hesitated.

"What now?" Dep asked.

"I sense something down there... and I think it may be what affects me and Mystic whenever we come here."

"Then we're gonna get rid of it, so both of you can live in peace." Dep responded, asking for her hand to take her into the trials. She took his hand and jumped into the shaft with him.

* * *

They found themselves in an suspicious hallway, edged with indigo lanterns on the sides. Ahead was a single circular chamber that had a rip at the far end that appeared to be a gray-clouded "eyehole". The heroes passed by the hall of lanterns and entered the chamber.

Once they set foot inside the circle, a monster's hand appeared from the eyehole.

"What the hell is that?" Dep exclaimed as the rest of the monster appeared to the Titans. It had a green body with a white skull mask for a face and a hole in its gut.

"What's the fix on that hole in his stomach?" Mina uttered, grossed out by the sight of the fiend.

"How about we kill it and not worry about his looks?" Thunderbolt suggested, firing a lightning bolt at its chest.

The monster took the hit, with another hole in it. However, it stood back up and mystically put itself back together.

"It can regenerate?" Thunderbolt exclaimed.

"Razor Wind!" Mina shouted, shooting four gusts of air at the monster's limbs, cutting them off. "That oughta do it."

The fiend completely regenerated again.

"I thought that it would be dead when I shot it." Thunderbolt mumured.

"It has no soul." Fortress openly claimed.

"How would you know that?" Scorch asked.

"I'm reading this sign." She was looking at writing on the wall nearby. "Deface... Dep, crush its face!"

"Not a problem." he responded, jumping to the monster and plunging his fist through its face. The skull of the monster was crushed severely, and eventually it dematerialized.

The Titans gathered around Fortress, who was reading the last words of the sign on the wall.

"This is the Hollow Pit of Trials—ten floors leading to the way stone to the Acolytes' Base at the bottom...!"

"Hollow is the right word for this place." Dep generalized.

"Get this: that thing that you killed is called a Hollow." Fortress told him as she kept reading. "They are souless beings who not only kill, but also seek to cannibalize on souls of the living to become whole again. Had we not defeated it, we would have been destroyed or eaten."

"So there's gonna be more of them as we keep going... great." Mina uttered.

"Still, whether it is 10 or 1,000 of them, we have to keep moving." Scorch said.

_-(2nd floor)-_

Three Hollows appeared.

"We know where to hit them now. It shouldn't be hard because they aren't that powerful at all." Thunderbolt said to the group.

"Oh yeah? Wait until their numbers grow..." Dep said.

Mina glared at Dep. "What's with you today?"

"I'm just a bit on edge."

"Um, guys?" Fortress called.

"Yeah?" the three responded.

"Scorch is done." She pointed out that Scorch had already killed the three Hollows.

"Let's go." the dragon said to the others.

_-(3rd floor)-_

Five Hollows await the Bean Titans. One is a Grand Fisher Hollow.

"Hey, one for each of us." Dep said.

"The big-faced one is stronger than the rest... I'll handle it." Scorch said, before rushing in. "Cover me!"

The other four Titans used Flash Step to appear before the other four Hollows and each used a special attack to strike through their faces, defeating them. As Scorch ran closer to the Grand Fisher, it released many of its vines from its body to crush the dragon.

"Big mistake... Fire Blast!" Scorch shouted, emitting a large wave of fire to burn the vines.

Before the fire reached the Hollow, it disappeared and was then behind Scorch. It intended to backstab the dragon.

"Flame Bullet." Scorch said, shooting a swift shot from his right wing at the Hollow's face without looking. After the bullet made contact, it caused the Hollow to burst into flames and eventually die.

* * *

The same outcome was repeated down to the last floor; the chamber here was was ten times as big. They had already defeated 500 Hollows total, including the last 100 that they have currently killed on the last floor. Once they seemed to have stopped appearing, a white portal appeared in the very back of the room.

"That must be our way into the Acolytes' playground. Get ready guys..." Scorch said, as they moved towards the portal.

Suddenly, the space in front of the portal broke as if it were glass.

"What the fuck?" Mina said.

Fortress, without warning, kneeled to the ground.

"What's wrong?" Dep asked.

"It's... that force that affects me... that I told you about before...it's weighing me down—almost crushing me. Whatever it is, KILL IT!" she requested.

The Titans looked back at the hole, to see a pair of white hands that literally ripped through the broken space. The entire body manifested itself before them. It was a tall, giant Hollow with white hands and narrow white boots, wearing a long black garb. It was a Menos Grande.

"Its prescence... it's like hundreds of Hollows combined!" Scorch sensed.

"I have a plan. Why don't we use full force and hit its face?" Thunderbolt suggested.

"That could work—let's try it." Scorch replied. While Fortress was unable to move, the other four Titans exhibited their Ascended Legendary strengths. As a side note, Dep's Ultimate Mode does not really affect his appearance, except for the fact that the brown spots on his body turn golden.

Scorch launched his Blue Star Inferno, while Dep, Thunderbolt and Mina fired their second-level Bursts (respectively-Geo Burst, Electro Burst, and Aero Burst) at the Menos's face. Smoke shrouded the Hollow's face upon impact.

"Is it disappearing?" Mina questioned quietly, with high hopes.

When most of the smoke withered away, a red light had flared from the Menos's face.

"Oh no... I hope that's not a Cero..." Scorch said.

His bad thought was validated, as the Menos unleashed the doom-bringing ray upon the Titans. Luckily, the Menos aimed to the spot just in front of the Titans, causing the least yet dire amount of damage to them. Dep, Thunderbolt and Mina were thrown out of their Ultimate Modes, but Scorch still held on to his Unleashed Mode. They were struggling to get up.

"If we get hit by another one of those, it's the end for us..." Dep murmured.

Scorch heard Dep's comment. _"Then I guess I'll have to use **that** move..._ stand down." he told the other three.

"How're you gonna beat that?" Mina questioned.

"Just watch." Scorch replied, using Flash Step to appear directly in front of the face of the Menos. "Get ready for a burst of chaos." He then held a red battery-like object and generated his energy through it. It was really an exchange, as the battery delivered a massive amount of energy to Scorch, who then glowed crimson with a violent aura. "You're dead, Hollow. CHAOS... BLAST!"

A sudden explosion of negative energy acted against the Menos, heavily damaging it with no problem. This intense burst of destructive energy killed the Menos. Afterwards, Scorch slowly descended to the ground, releasing his Unleashed Mode. He then pulled out a blue "battery" and put energy into it, causing everyone to be fully healed instantly.

"What are those things, Scorch?" Thunderbolt asked.

"Chaos Drives. There's more at home."

"What do they do?" asked Mina.

"They grant special effects on the wielder's request once given a very small amount of energy. When I used the red one, I was given a great deal of power to be used for a limited time. I spent it all with the Chaos Blast I used on the Hollow. And the blue one... it provides healing for whoever I please."

Dep walked up to Scorch. "Do you have a Chaos Drive for **that?**" Dep asked, pointing at Fortress, who was floating without consciousness for some reason.

"I can't say I do." Scorch answered.

Soon, she floated into Dep's arms, with her eyes open to the world. "What happened?" Fortress asked her fiancée.

"I don't even know..." he responded, hugging her.

Thunderbolt walked up to the white portal, after seeing that the rip created by the Menos Grande had disappeared. "This is it, guys. We have to come back with our friends, at all costs."

"Let's go." Scorch announced.

The five of Titans entered the portal.

**/-/**

They have reached the Acolytes' Base! What is to be expected? Will they have to fight even stronger foes, including Shockmutt and Sylvester themselves? Will they free Durango, Tina and the newborn baby with their own lives intact as well?

Find out in these next intense chapters.


	6. Against All Odds

Chapter 6 — Against All Odds

The Acolytes' Citadel—a circular fortress with a white tower that stands 100 stories tall, rising above all others. The atmosphere had nothing but dark gray skies, making stormy weather the norm of this realm, that is run by a sinister and powerful organization.

"That is one HUGE tower..." Dep marveled.

"And our friends are at the top. Come on, guys... we've come too far to lose them now." Thunderbolt said.

The heroes ran into the city, towards the Acolytes' tower.

* * *

Durango, Tina and the baby were kept inside of containment chambers. Shockmutt put a dose of sleeping gas inside the baby's chamber because she did not want to hear the noise it would make. Tina was surprised at the baby's growth, as he already looked to be 3 years old. It must have been the effects from the Trans-Fusion Ritual; she thought that maybe the baby would age in double time during his infant years.

Durango looked and saw Shockmutt's facial expression change slightly. "What's the problem?" he asked her.

"Your friends are here." she told him.

"They are?" Tina said.

"I can sense them clearly as well... two sibling horses, a dog, a unicorn, and a dragon."

"They came..." Durango murmured.

"And they'll die at our hands." Shockmutt claimed.

"I heard from Mina that they killed an Acolyte already. It's only a matter of time before they do the same to—" Tina talked.

"Korgon got carried away." Shockmutt interrupted her. "I assure you, Sylvester and I will certainly not die by that mistake. As a matter of fact, Sylvester is a huge wall blocking your friends from saving you. And if, by some slim chance, they defeat him, they'll have to answer to me because I will have their lives along with all of yours. They will not win."

"Apparently, you don't know us that well Shockmutt... we're the Bean Titans. We always find a way to win." Durango told her.

"We'll see." Shockmutt responded, watching an hourglass that she flipped over as she talked with them. It was set for three hours—the time limit on the lives of Durango, Tina and the baby. "In the meantime, I suggest you come up with a name for your child before he dies."

* * *

After the first hour and a half, the cavalry of Titans had fought their way through numerous Hollows and avoided countless traps all the way to the 90th floor. They stopped to rest, as they needed it for the last ten levels.

Back at full strength, the heroes continued on and quickly ascended from the 91st floor. Next, they entered what was known as the Hall of Ascension (floors 92-99). The atmosphere was pitch black and there were five gigantic blue platforms floating in the entire area, each one elevated over the other. There were also white glass stairwells linking the platforms with no boundaries protecting them, which meant that falling off was not an option.

They approached the first platform and saw Scurry standing in the center.

"Scurry." Scorch identified the beetle.

"Looks like you guys made it this far. Your road ends here in this Hall." he claimed.

"I still say that we taking our friends with us, so you can cut the threats." Thunderbolt said.

"I wasn't threatening you... I was telling you what is meant to happen."

Dep growled. "I'll fight you."

"Alone?" Scurry questioned.

"Why not? Those stairs lead up to the other levels, don't they? And I'm thinking that four others are waiting on us, right?"

"Lucky guess." Scurry muttered under his breath.

"What about us?" Mina asked Dep.

"You guys keep moving. I'll take Scurry down... while you do the same for the others." he replied.

"Sounds like a plan. We'll meet up at the top. Let's go." Scorch said, leading the others onward.

* * *

The heroes each met an enemy in battle, as Dep guessed it.

_BATTLE 1:_ Dep vs. Scurry.

"Blades of Blood!" Scurry shouted, starting the fight off with countless deep-red blades.

"Armor of the Mantle." Dep responded, wearing his protective armor to ward off the blades. "Weak."

"Watch your mouth, dog. Ripping people with the earth element apart is my specialty!"

"Prove it." Dep said, releasing the armor. He then witnessed Scurry disappearing in an instant, with a sound effect that sounded as if the air swiftly ripped for a split-second. This was the Sonido technique that Wrinkle demonstrated before, as Dep could not detect Scurry.

"Executioner's Strike." said the beetle, having stabbed through Dep's torso.

"Uggh... how'd you move so fast?" Dep questioned while kneeling down, struggling to say his words.

Scurry pulled his arm out of Dep's body, causing him to fall to the ground. "It's Sonido. The Acolytes taught it to us, after we gave up on Flash Step. It's a lot more useful, if you ask me."

Dep had a plan, finding the strength to stand after Scurry's response. "Maybe it just depends on who's using it."

"What do you mean by that?" Scurry asked in suspicion.

"Let's take you for instance. Killing is your purpose in Wrinkle's gang—yours above everyone else's... and yet, you kill in stupidity because you never take a moment to have second thoughts about why you're killing. And if that's not bad enough, you always have to be **ordered** to take someone out."

Scurry's nerves popped. "What was that, mutt?"

"You... kill... senselessly. I can't put it any simpler than that, Scurry. That's what makes you weak: you don't have the mind or the independence to—"

"SHUT UP, PUNK!" Scurry yelled, jumping towards the resting dog preparing his Blood Fang Slash to slice him in half.

_"Gotcha..."_ Dep thought, immediately using his Flash Step to appear right in Scurry's face with a Gaia Sphere fully charged. He planted it against Scurry's face, knocking him unconscious as his body was thrown through the southern boundary of the platform (ring) they stood on. Dep was victorious.

_"Good thing I trained before going on this journey. Thanks to my Reconstruction (regeneration effect), that hole he made in me is gone now."_

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_-(94th floor)__-_

_BATTLE 2:_ Mina vs. Smoochy.

The battle started out with the classic "clash" of Dragonball Z contact—numerous attacks thrown from both opponents at every second, attempting to wear each other down. However, every time that Mina landed a blow on Smoochy, it seemed to her that her fists and feet were slipping right off of Smoochy's body and that only minimal damage was given.

"What's up with your skin?" Mina asked, once the two of them separated.

"Come on, princess... I'm a frog! I'm supposed to have slippery skin." she responded.

"Is that why I'm rubbing off of you?"

"Exactly. You haven't worn me down a lot yet."

_"Damn..."_ Mina thought, squinting her eyes.

"Concerned? You should be." Smoochy said, as she floated into the air and commanded a tsunami load of water to spin around the whole arena. "You can't escape my Whirlpool at its full power... once you're caught, it'll be like you're swallowed in deep quicksand!"

She then commanded her water to close in on Mina and expand into one giant twister, while slowly pulling her down into the center as Smoochy depicted. Soon, it had appeared that the water completely swallowed Mina.

"You're done." Smoochy claimed.

After a few seconds, Smoochy then sensed a disturbance in the water—a massive one.

The water had been cleared away by Mina, who held the wind version of the Rasengan in her right hand—the Spiraling Shuriken.

"I hope your body can take this pressure... because if it can't—" Mina started, immediately using Flash Step to reappear behind Smoochy, while flying in toward her as well, "—YOU'RE DONE!"

Mina pushed the Spiraling Shuriken against Smoochy's body, which then plummeted down to the platform below. Smoochy was then trapped in a sphere of destructive and deadly wind, cutting away at every limb of her body until the wind settled. Smoochy dropped to the ground, in defeat.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

-_(96th floor)-_

_BATTLE 3:_ Fortress vs. Reptilius.

Ten minutes passed in this fight.

"Before we continue... I have a question to ask you." Fortress said, trying to buy some time against the powerhouse of Wrinkle's Syndicate. Fortress is lucky, because she can heal herself mentally without her opponent(s) ever knowing it. While healing, she strategizes.

"What?" the reptile replied bluntly.

"Now that Scaly is on your side, what're you planning on doing with him?"

Reptilius meant to keep it a secret, but he decided to tell her anyway since she has survived a heated battle against him so far. "We have this thing called a De-Splicer in our labs back at the base. It's supposed to separate things into multiple parts. I know that this isn't the answer to your question, but we used it to separate your friend's child from her."

"You people are mad..." Fortress murmured in disgust.

"It was Shockmutt's plan, not ours... so blame her. The thing that thumped me was that the baby looked fully mature, not aborted."

Fortress widened her eyes. _"That must've been that ritual that Mina told us about."_ she thought.

"To answer your question, finally... Wrinkle wants to reverse the effects of the De-Splicer and fuse Scaly with myself, which means that I'll be an even bigger threat to you Bean Titans." Reptilius told her.

"What a monster you'll be..." Fortress uttered.

"Thanks for the compliment. Shall we continue, then?"

Fortress exhibited her Legendary strength once again.

"I'll take that as a yes. Poison Blast!" said Reptilius, firing a stream of acid at the unicorn.

She avoided the acid and ran in towards the formidable reptile. "I have you now!" she shouted.

Reptilius chuckled evilly. _"On the contraire..._ Poison Gaze."

Fortress predicted that that green glare in his eyes was coming, so she reacted by using her Aquatic Illusion to warp from one water pillar to another, until she wound up flying into him from behind. Once his focus dropped, she hit him with her Tearing Torrent.

Despite the damage taken from the powerful water Rasengan, Reptilius still stood, but in his Plague Mode now. He then hit her with his more powerful Serum Gaze, which not only struck her with severe pain, but also threw off most of her senses.

_"Shit! Another one of those, and I'm finished..."_ she thought. _"I don't even have my Ultimate Mode yet."_ She paused after that thought crossed her mind. _ "Maybe... something good happened to me while the others fought that tall Hollow."_

"It's over, Fortress. Nice chatting with you, though..." Reptilius said, with an Acid Ball charged in his hand.

"No it isn't..." said Fortress, who floated mysteriously in the air again.

"What in the...?" muttered Reptilius, shocked by the energy left in her. It was more than she had when she **started** the fight.

Fortress's Ultimate Mode had finally manifested. The golden ring on her horn turned into a three-ring chain tiara. Also, two long spaghetti-like locks of her lavender hair hung down in front of her face and ended around her waist.

"Now this fight is over." Fortress said.

"How so?" Reptilius exclaimed, aiming to hit Fortress with the Acid Ball. To his dismay, Fortress automatically activated her Aquatic Illusion to confuse Reptilius. "Where are you?"

"That's how. Flash Flood." Fortress said, from a distance. The water trapped Reptilius on her command. She walked up to the water prison that kept Reptilius hostage. "Snort made that same mistake recently. I'll repeat myself: this fight is over. Break!"

The water restricted Reptilius's air supply and dispersed at Fortress's will, leaving the reptile out of commission. Fortress powered down in victory, with her physical features returning back to normal as well.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

-_(98th floor)-_

_BATTLE 4:_ Thunderbolt vs. Wrinkle.

"What happened? Did you get demoted? I figured you'd be waiting for us at the top." Thunderbolt said.

"No, I didn't get degraded. If you must know, Sylvester is on the next floor. In other words, Scorch is a dead man." Wrinkle stated. "And if the rest of you manage to defeat us, the same fate will come upon every one of you."

Thunderbolt smirked. "Hmmph."

"What's funny?" Wrinkle asked.

"I don't know about that. Scorch has been a real powerhouse lately."

"What do you mean?"

"He killed Korgon himself."

Wrinkle was a bit bewildered hearing that. "Impressive... but it won't matter. Korgon was the 13th seat in the Acolytes, but Sylvester is the 6th. I don't think he'll stand a chance."

"And what if he does?" Thunderbolt questioned.

"Shockmutt will be waiting on you guys. I believe you're well aware of what she can do."

Thunderbolt frowned. "I'm really starting to hate that bitch."

"I can tell. Now, let's focus on our fight... you'll need every bit of focus you have, that is, IF you want to beat me." Wrinkle said, assuming his battle stance.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

_-(99th floor)-_

_BATTLE 5:_ Scorch vs. Sylvester.

Scorch stopped once he saw his opponent on this floor.

"Great." he mentioned flatly.

Sylvester laughed. "I don't believe we've met face-to-face. State your name, before you perish." he ordered, as it was a sign of common respect to identify each other before fighting.

"Non-positioned Bean Titan—Scorch Fox."

"Sixth-seat of the Acolytes, Sylvester J. Pussycat."

"I'm guessing that Shockmutt is here too, on the next floor. Am I right?" Scorch guessed.

"Along with your friends, yes. It's surprising to me that you and the others have come this far... only to die at our hands."

"Why is that?" Scorch asked, assuming his battle stance.

"Even though Shockmutt and I are the only two Acolytes here, we all agree on one thing: we don't appreciate intruders! And what happens to them? They cease to exist because many of them don't have the strength to even contend with us." Sylvester told him.

"Well, I see it like this: I'm a Bean Titan that already took down one Acolyte." Scorch went Legendary. "I'm confident that I can do it a second time."

"Well that's a big step for you. I'm a lot more superior to Korgon." Sylvester then proved it by exhibiting his full power, which weighed Scorch down and broke the platform into floating tiles.

As Dep and Mina made their way to Fortress and while Thunderbolt and Wrinkle were fighting, they saw almost the entire 99th floor break at Sylvester's power.

_"I can't move as much as I cvould before... that's not good."_ Scorch thought.

"As you will find out, Scorch, one of us will die in this fight..." Sylvester paused, activating his Mangekyo Sharingan, "and it won't be me!" He then used Sonido to appear behind the dragon and strike him with Iron Reaver—emulating Inuyasha's famous shredding move.

When it appeared that Scorch was ripped to shreds, Sylvester saw that the divided remains of the dragon turned into a black smokescreen, which trapped Sylvester.

Scorch was alive, as he reappeared under the smokescreen that his clone created. He shot a Flame Bullet into the smoke to repeat the same tactic that Scorch used to kill Korgon; Scorch called it the Pyroscreen. After the attack, Scorch watched as the flames began to wither away... but he saw Sylvester still standing, with some of his robes burned off along with some of his fur.

"Damn you..." he muttered.

_"He's still alive?"_ Scorch thought.

"You wanna play with fire, huh? How's this? Amaterasu!" Sylvester exclaimed.

Suddenly, black flames enveloped Scorch and drew closer to him at every passing second. He tried to waft them away, but it was no use. "What are these flames?"

"Don't bother trying to get rid of them. They're Amaterasu flames—they will not wither away because I control them with my Mangekyo Sharingan." said Sylvester.

"Mangekyo Sharingan?" Scorch asked, as he was secretly pulling for a Chaos Drive. He heard of the normal Sharingan because Megan and Chipper had it.

"It is the final and true form of the Sharingan eyes that very few have. With it, I can do unimaginable things. You name it: control time and space... create endless flames... I can even summon your worst nightmare. In other words, I'm virtually untouchable."

Scorch smiled. "Sorry to disappoint you, but... I have Chaos on my side." Scorch responded, holding a yellow Chaos Drive in his hand. When he empowered it, it gave him a very durable energy shield, protecting him from the flames. However, the shield could only last three minutes.

"What is that?"

"How about you see for yourself?" Scorch replied, as he commenced a DBZ-style fist-fight with him.

_"He's not weighed down by my power anymore... what was that yellow battery he used?"_ Sylvester wondered, after a minute.

_"I'll have to end this quickly... and I know just how to stop him."_ Scorch quickly pulled out two other Chaos Drives—a purple one and a green one.

"Oh no you don't!" Sylvester said, using Sonido to surprise Scorch. When he reappeared, the surprise was on him, as Scorch was automatically behind him.

Scorch flicked Sylvester in the back of his head. "Too slow." Scorch said, following up by quickly smashing his tail against Sylvester's body, driving him down like a meteor.

Sylvester's drop had enough momentum to crash into Wrinkle and knock him through his platform, unconscious. Thunderbolt was astounded, seeing Scorch's resolve. At this point, he and the others watched from the 98th floor below.

Sylvester soon grew mad, rushing from the base of the Hall of Ascension to Scorch's position near the top, with his Cero charged in his right hand. Sylvester had a furious look on his face; he was through playing around. Scorch sensed this coming, so he ascended to Unleashed Mode and fired his best Blue Star Inferno to counter the beam. While controlling his fiery blast, Scorch saw the Amaterasu flames veering closer to his body again. He knew that the time on the shield was almost up. However, he was sure that he had the fight won because of one little thing he did to Sylvester.

"Ha ha ha! You're weakening—I can sense it! You're dead, Bean Titan!" Sylvester boasted.

Suddenly, his Cero disappeared from sight. Scorch smiled.

"Actually, it's over for you." Scorch stated.

_"What...? My senses—what's happening?"_ Sylvester wondered in panic, as he no longer had control of his body, which now laid on one of the floating tiles. While motionless, his energy slowly oozed from his body.

The others ran up the stairway to Scorch's level.

"I might as well explain, before I rightfully claim my second victory over an Acolyte." Scorch said. "If you were wondering about those objects I used, they're enhancers called Chaos Drives. The yellow one gave me a protective barrier for a short amount of time. The purple and green ones were more of a double deal; the purple one allowed me to evade your attacks with ease, while the green one granted me super speed."

"AAAHHH!" cried Sylvester, beginning to feel as if he were nailed to a surface hotter than the sun.

"That brings me what's happening to you now. Remember when I flicked you in the back of your head? I only do that to the most vile and powerful of enemies. It's called my Sunspark. When I flicked you, I actually sent a charge of thermal energy to every nerve of your body. As that charge remained in your body, it gradually grew stronger over a short amount of time, causing your nerves to eventually submit to the increasing heat... up to the point where your mind will literally want to burn every living cell of you alive."

The others heard this.

"Damn... that's rough... no pun intended." Dep said, implying that dogs bark.

"It's done." Scorch continued, as Sylvester began to fade away into dust. "Your limbs are incinerated, your mind is corrupted, and your Mangekyo Sharingan eyes have perished—which means... **_(the Amaterasu flames disappear from around Scorch)_** I'm no longer in danger. I have won."

It was true. Sylvester now ceased to exist, and the five heroes remained, having gone against all the odds to come this close to saving their fellow Bean Titans.

The five Titans regroup and restore their full strength, as there is one more thick wall that they must overcome before this rescue mission can be considered a success. They were ready. They exited the Hall of Ascension and started to move up the final stairwell.

**/-/**

Long chapter... phew.

The final battle is next. Will our heroes find that thin shining light and defeat Shockmutt for their friends—or will this be their last and grim moment of life?

Find out next.


	7. Turbulence

**AN: The Chaos Drives are from Sonic Adventure 2. I KNOW there isn't a blue one... but I did use a Chao Karate reference, in which the stats of the Chao display their attributes (Defense-yellow, Stealth-purple, Speed-green, and Power-red). I used a blue one to represent stamina or health.**

Chapter 7 — Turbulence

"I can't sense any form of energy below us. Looks like everyone down there died." Shockmutt claimed, sitting in her seat in the middle of the three containment capsules that held Durango, Tina and the still sleeping baby. The hourglass behind her had about thirty minutes left.

Tina's eyes widened. "Shockmutt, I'd hate to break it to you, but I sense them now. They're here."

"They are?" Durango asked, relieved about the good news.

Shockmutt soon knew that she was not fibbing her. The Acolyte sensed five energies elevating towards the top floor. "Impossible! There's no way they could've gotten past—"

"Your dirty work?" Scorch finished for her. The cavalry had finally arrived.

"They're here." Durango said, putting his arms against the glass.

"We don't wanna hear anymore death threats. Every time someone said one, they ended up losing." Thunderbolt said.

"That's too bad, really. You don't control my mouth." Shockmutt replied. "Your fates will soon become the same as your comrades. Since the moment the five of you set foot into our Citadel, you have unconsciously dug your own graves. You may have overcome every enemy thus far—even the toughest ones... but you WILL die by my hands."

"I said I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" Thunderbolt yelled, running in to hit Shockmutt.

"Brother, wait!" Mina tried to stop him.

Shockmutt stopped his fist and then immediately used Sonido to pass him by. "Pathetic." she uttered, firing her Dark Bolt—a thin, yet fatal purple bolt of lightning—through Thunderbolt's chest.

He fell down, now silenced and motionless.

"...Just like that?" Durango murmured, shocked at how fast and easily Shockmutt could take down an opponent.

"So be it, then. If you want something done, you gotta do it yourself!" Shockmutt stated, exhibiting much of her power in an instant, causing the roof to blow off of the tower and reveal a heavy storm in the sky. Her power also had a pressure that pushed the Titans away as she powered up.

"Dep! What does the scouter say about her power level?" Mina shouted.

Dep took the scouter in his hand after reading it. **"IT'S OVER 9,000!"** he responded, before breaking the scouter with his hand.

"What—9,000? That just can't be right!" Fortress exclaimed.

Dark static now danced around Shockmutt, who floated in the air above the tower. "I used my Dark Bolt on Thunderbolt. And just so you know, that's only an appetizer compared to my other abilities. Your lives end here!" she proclaimed, emitting her purple lightning into the air.

Seeing as there was no time for words, the remaining four Titans rose to their Ascended Legendary phases and commenced a great battle against the powerful Acolyte.

* * *

**_FINAL BATTLE:_** Scorch, Thunderbolt, Mina, Dep and Fortress vs. Shockmutt. Music selection: "The Encounter"— Kingdom Hearts 2.

One by one, Shockmutt kept smacking the four Titans away from her as if they were fleas for five straight minutes. After this point, she grew a bit impatient, so she decided to take them down, once they were all beaten up a bit and separated.

"Die." she uttered, firing a Cero at Dep.

"Armor of the Mantle!" called Dep, protecting himself from most of the damage that he was about to take. After the impact, he unleashed his Geo Burst at Shockmutt. "Your Cero is your strongest move, isn't it? If we can handle ourselves with that, we've got nothing much to worry about."

All of the earth that he sent at her appeared to be a humongous boulder, which was strange because his Geo Burst (even the weaker Earth Burst) was supposed to combust on impact.

"So naive..." spoke Shockmutt, who somehow divided the giant boulder into many smaller boulders. Her electricity surged through every rock.

"What...?" Dep wondered, hearing her voice from behind him. Apparently, she had used Sonido.

"Thunder Pulse." she said, barely pushing the air behind Dep to cause a sudden force wave to push him towards the multitude of boulders. She also paralyzed him. "My strongest moves are my electric ones. Remember what happened to your friend? You're next, because here's another shocker... Static Coffin!"

Shockmutt then clenched her fist at the floating rocks when Dep was within them, using her static to make the boulders collide and break with Dep in the center. The dog fell down near Thunderbolt's body, unconscious.

"SHOCKMUTT!" Fortress yelled, rushing in at her after witnessing what happened with Dep.

"Typical..." the Acolyte uttered, handling static in her hands.

Fortress took it for an attack, so she started her Aquatic Illusion to evade Shockmutt and find an opening.

Shockmutt chuckled evilly. "Big mistake, princess. Discharge!" she said, commanding her lightning to violently burst out of her and shock anything within a 15-meter radius. Fortress had fallen as well, having taken double pain from not only from the lightning, but also from the water conducting it.

Mina was next, starting out by using Fortress's Illusion as her own after Shockmutt's lightning faded—her Tornado Illusion. Instead of randomly moving around in the wind spirals, Mina simply hid herself (along with her energy) in the stratosphere while quickly trapping Shockmutt within one combined tornado. It not only confused Shockmutt, but it also made her dizzy once she span to the top of the tornado. At this opportunity to strike, Mina revealed herself at the top of the whorl and inflicted Shockmutt with the Spiraling Shuriken, sending her through the bottom of the tornado hoping to have the same effects that happened to Smoochy earlier.

However, that was when things got a bit strange, as Shockmutt landed on the air as if it were flat land, still conscious after the great feat from Mina.

"What...?" Mina questioned, floating over Shockmutt while seeing the odd characteristic of the "solid air". She then heard the words "Grand Rejolt" from Shockmutt, who beckoned the storm in the sky to come to a halt and then expend all its energy on Shockmutt by a huge bolt of lightning. It was healing lightning, bringing Shockmutt back to full capacity. Mina, on the other hand, stood in the bolt's way, which led to her being jolted out of consciousness. She was left on the solid air, with static still coursing through and around her body.

"This doesn't make any sense! What just happened there?" Scorch wanted to know, floating in the air above the 100th floor lab.

Shockmutt used Sonido to get closer to Scorch, so she could explain. "First off, I shouldn't have to explain what became of Mina. However, I will spill about the air floor. As you may figure, it takes a lot of effort to structure the Hall of Ascension as it is, not to mention that the walls in there are indestructible. We Acolytes debated over whether or not to have a 100th floor because building one wouldn't do us much justice, as the Hall of Ascension would lift our whole tower into the sky, far from our grasp. Still, we needed a facility to do our most complicated jobs. We came to this decision: we constructed an invisible orbit purely made from most of our heavily dense energy."

_"What...?"_ Scorch thought, almost in utter shock.

"Is that even possible?" Tina questioned from her containment capsule.

"To sum things up about the floor itself, it lets us have our last story while keeping our whole domain in place. That's why all the other buildings you see are shorter than our tower!" Shockmutt finished, before going toe-to-toe with Scorch, who activated the power of the red Chaos Drive.

After a while, Scorch and Shockmutt were within five meters of each other.

"Chaos..." said Scorch, preparing the destructive outburst once again.

Shockmutt sensed the combustion coming, so she reacted with an outburst of her own, as lightning began to surge around her.

"Oh snipes..." Durango uttered, not ready to witness this clash.

"DISCHARGE!"

"BLAST!"

The scene temporarily changed, showing the entire Citadel. An explosion was seen around the top of the Citadel, from the two small worlds of explosive power colliding over the peak of the tower.

"I'm about ready to end this." Shockmutt said.

"How? I stood my ground against you for a good couple of minutes... how do you expect to just shut me down?" Scorch asked.

Suddenly, she appeared behind Scorch and used her brutal version of Dark Bolt on him—Dark Shock, which sent 8 to 9 thin bolts of lightning through the target. Before Scorch fell to the lab's floor, he dropped his Chaos Drives, which landed by Thunderbolt, who was just regaining his strength. As he fell, Shockmutt rose to the sky and began to generate her energy.

"No, Scorch!" Tina grieved. She, Durango and the baby were freed from the containment capsules, as the time on the hourglass had run out. Tina went to pick up the baby, while Durango moved to Scorch.

"Wake up, man!" he said.

"You still don't get it, do you?" Shockmutt questioned. Durango looked up at her, as she continued. "This invisible solid layer was forged by massive energy from the Acolytes ourselves; each one of us gave about 80% of our total energy to it. Compared to how we were before, we are considerably five times weaker. But... since it's made of most of our energy, we can call upon every bit of our respective power whenever we want. And right now, I'm using most of my** total **power for my ultimate technique: the Dark Storm Death Bomb. There is no escape... you WILL die."

By the time she finished talking, a massive Spirit Bomb-sized electric ball was charged up. Durango and Tina looked at it in fear; death was nearly upon them and their friends.

"T-Bolt... you're still alive?" Durango wondered, seeing his friend with an essence of bravery, despite the small hole through his chest.

"We all are... I can sense it." Tina told them.

"We won't be if that hits us!" Durango replied.

"It won't." Thunderbolt said, after taking a look at his part-son in Tina's hands. "I'm really sick of this bitch now... so I'll beat her. In fact, I'm the only one that can."

"Really?" Durango asked.

"I'm promised that I wouldn't come back home without you guys! I'm gonna keep that promise until the end. Just watch." Thunderbolt responded, using Flash Step to appear floating over the lab.

"You're still alive?" Shockmutt exclaimed. "No matter... THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO NOW! SAY GOODBYE!"

She sent the gigantic thunder ball down on the eight Titans, fallen or not. It appeared to be doomsday, as the ball met Thunderbolt's hands.

"THUNDERBOLT!" shrieked Durango and Tina. The baby cried as well.

"It's over for you!" proclaimed Shockmutt. Surprisingly, she still sensed Thunderbolt's energy level... it was increasing. "What?" she exclaimed, seeing her ultimate attack diminish.

"Lightning is really a bad thing to use on me... because I have a special ability that puts you to shame." Thunderbolt (Ultimate Mode) said. He had a golden glow on him now, and the hole in his chest vanished.

"That's impossible... you should be dead; all of you should!" Shockmutt freaked.

"It's called Gigavolt Drain." Thunderbolt announced. "It doesn't matter how strong a lightning attack is... I will always be able to absorb its power and use it while its in my control, for a short period of time."

A shock went through everyone's minds.

_"He absorbed that thing?"_ Tina thought.

"Impossible..." Shockmutt murmured, finally showing a bit of worry. Thunderbolt used Flash Step, now near her position.

"I know that there are 27 other Acolytes somewhere... but right now, I'm not worried about them in the least. This game that you've played on us since the start, chasing after Durango and Tina, with all the pain and all the trouble in between... I'M SICK OF IT! It ends now!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Shockmutt yelled, firing a Dark Bolt through him again.

"No, T-Bolt!" Durango uttered. He and Tina then heard the baby say, "He... okay."

"He okay...? Durango!" Tina called.

"I know... those are his first words! Though I would've expected 'mom' or 'dad'—"

"No! Thunderbolt's okay! That's what he meant!" Tina clarified.

It was true. The brown horse was unaffected by the purple lightning bolt, and he regenerated in an instant. Furiated at this, Shockmutt fired three more Dark Bolts and then a Dark Shock. There was still no effect.

She was then punched hard in her gut.

"Don't waste your time. Pharos Amp!" Thunderbolt said, pushing the thunder orb against her back, forcing her down to the invisible floor.

Shockmutt regained herself before hitting the floor. A quarter of her health had been taken out of her by the Pharos Amp, so she restarted the storm again in an attempt to use Grand Rejolt again. Thunderbolt stood in the path of the lightning bolt by the time she summoned it. To her dismay, Thunderbolt not only absorbed the lightning, but also took possession of the light from it and used a juiced-up version of Psionic Beam, after throwing her into the air.

"Psionic Blast!" Thunderbolt shouted, firing what could practically be his own brown-colored Cero.

Shockmutt took the hit, now with 25% of her health. Her Acolyte robes had disintegrated; she now had on a hidden, tight-fitting white suit designed similar to that of Samus Aran (Zero Suit).

"He's winning..." Tina sensed while watching Thunderbolt, who now floated over Shockmutt.

"Yeah, man." responded Durango, who had split a Phoenix Down among the four fallen Bean Titans. They were each given an eighth of their health back, which meant they could only barely move from where they were. Still, it felt right to spectate the match from here on out.

Shockmutt growled. "That does it! No more mercy!" she yelled, grasping her full power. However, it was only the power she began with at the start of the entire fight, and Thunderbolt was still stronger. She did not care one way or the other, as she was certain that her finishing move would end this fight.

"You're still going at it?" Thunderbolt asked.

"I don't care about you anymore! My mission is to kill those three over there, and I will see to it that it happens! Die! **SHIDEN RAY CERO (violet lightning ray)!**" Shockmutt aimed the blast at the lab, aiming to kill Durango, Tina and anyone near them, amounting to the other eight Bean Titans.

Thunderbolt used Flash Step to get in the path of her greatest Cero and raised a Pharos Amp to it. "You called me pathetic..." he uttered when the Cero clashed with his orb.

"So?" she replied blatantly. With her own eyes, both Thunderbolt and her super Cero disappeared. Shockmutt suddenly felt something stab and paralyze her... it was two of Thunderbolt's fingers from his empty hand, piercing through her spine; the other hand held an "energy blue-colored" Pharos Amp.

"...if you ask me, **_you're_** the pathetic one. It's over, I've won."

"It's... not over yet..." Shockmutt managed to say, which pissed Thunderbolt off.

"YOU CAN'T DENY IT!" he hollered at her viciously, ruthlessly stabbing her once again, but with his whole empty hand this time. This permanently paralyzed her completely—she could not move or warp anywhere.

She screamed abruptly, in great pain.

"It even hurts **me** to see that...!" Fortress uttered.

"Damn... he really is fed up with her." Durango said.

"You can say that again." Dep said.

Not bothered a bit by her blood on his hand, Thunderbolt rose upward towards the raging storm in the sky and stopped near the peak of the tower. He then raised his Pharos Amp to the sky and somehow managed to command the storm itself.

"Unreal..." Scorch marveled on his knees, greatly astonished by Thunderbolt's resiliency throughout the course of this great and treacherous journey.

"Oh my god..." Mina murmured, being taken back to the time she missed home. _"He wasn't kidding when I found him a few years ago... thunder really is his element."_

"All the power from every electric move you've used against me... is in this Pharos Amp." Thunderbolt told her from above. "With this much power, I can control the storm itself. Shockmutt, you will vanish with the roar of thunder..."

As she watched the sky, a great light blue lightning dragon came from the center of the storm. "Noooo! You can't do this to me!" she begged.

"SAVE IT! I've already said my case... you won't be forgiven anymore. And those are your last words—you mean nothing to me now. It's over! **Kirin!**" Thunderbolt finally said, directing his Pharos Amp at Shockmutt, expending all absorbed energy to command the lightning dragon to crash down on her, obliterating every living cell of her with an outrageously powerful bolt of lightning. Shockmutt screams horrifically, in grueling defeat.

"He did it!" Tina exclaimed.

Thunderbolt powered down, descending down to the tower's lab, where his comrades stood watching him. By the time his feet touched the ground, his whole body fell down.

"T-Bolt!" cried Tina.

"It's okay, I have things covered." Scorch said, using the blue Chaos Drive to fully heal everyone. They saw Thunderbolt slowly get up.

"Whatever those things are, Scorch, they're awesome!" Durango said.

"Chaos Drives." the dragon answered.

Mina walked up to Tina, who was holding the son of four parents. He was smiling, and somehow he knew exactly who his parents were. His brown hair, inherited from Thunderbolt, was in dreads. His skin was similar to Durango's, only a lighter shade of golden brown. Finally, his dark brown eyes had a sort of glimmer, similar to Mina's and Tina's.

"So... this is our baby." Mina said.

"Yeah." Tina replied. "Durango and I were gonna name him, but I wanted to decide on a name when all four of us were here.

"How about Derby? This whole adventure was one huge destruction derby on our account... but we still made it for him." Thunderbolt suggested, now on his feet.

"That'll work." said Durango. "One thing still stumps me though... how does he look like a three-year old if he's only been born within a week?"

"It's definitely the Ritual." Tina answered. "When he was born, Mina's 'other' conscience and mine had to sacfrice themselves to fuse our incomplete childs into one full-fledged child. His aging may be a side effect that'll wear off once he's at a certain age."

"That makes sense." Dep said.

"Hey." Durango uttered, calling Thunderbolt. Durango patted his shoulder. "Nice job out there, man... you're the big hero."

Fortress whined softly. "Can we go home now?"

"Yeah, let's." Scorch said.

The eight Bean Titans started off on their long road back home.

* * *

Back at the Main Base, two days later, Sweet was worried sick about the Titans he sent on the rescue. It had been a while, and they have not come back yet. Maybe he made a bad choice, sending them to fend themselves against all their enemies without assistance from the Legendary 12. Mac and Mystic were really the only ones other than Sweet who knew about this.

"I hope they're okay..." Sweet worried.

"I just hope they didn't fail... it'd give a bad name for us." Mac said.

Mystic looked around of the window and sensed eight energies flying their way. She saw a glimmer in the distance—it was Scorch's wings.

"They're back! They all are!" Mystic rejoiced.

"No way... what do you have to say about that, Mac?" Sweet said.

"Excellent." the cardinal answered.

Soon, the heroic group entered Titans Tower and met up with Sweet, Mac and Mystic in the grand living room.

"We're home!" Durango exclaimed.

"Yes you are. Congratulations on an accomplished mission—and a risky one at that!" Sweet said.

"I never had any doubts." Thunderbolt told him.

"How many Acolytes did you guys have to fight?" Mac asked him.

"Three—and we beat them all."

"Amazing... who were they?" Mystic asked.

"Korgon, Sylvester and Shockmutt. I beat the guys... but you should have seen the way Thunderbolt stepped up and beat Shockmutt." Scorch told him.

"We will. We have the Memory Room, remember?" Mac said.

Mystic saw the child in Tina's hands, who apparently grew fond of holding him. "This must be the baby."

"Yeah. Derby is his name. He's quiet, though." Mina said.

"He looks like all four of you... you guys are lucky." Fortress said.

"You could be too, if you wanted." Mina replied.

Fortress was a bit flattered. "Oh no. Derby's not my child..."

"I know. I meant that, if you wanted to, you could have your own."

This struck Dep's mind, who just remembered the thing that he wanted to show Fortress when they got back home.

"That is, if Dep's up for it..." Tina added.

"Are you, Dep?" Mystic asked.

"Oh, yeah, I am. I just don't know if she is." he replied.

"I don't know... it must be hard." Fortress said.

"Fortress, it's what you and Dep want it to be. Just trust and be there for each other." Sweet told her.

"Okay." Fortress said. "But on one condition..."

"What?" Dep questioned.

"ASAP." she responded. She had a bit of a fear of positioning herself in uncomfortable situations, which was why she wants to try and get it over with.

Dep led her to the elevator. They walked in it, and Dep pushed the button for the Suites.

"Um, Forte? Are you sure about this?" he asked her.

"Yes."

"Okay then."

The elevator doors shut closed.

**/-/**

It looks like Fortress is going to join the club.

**BUT WHO IS TEAM Z? I've already set the stage, really. I just need to reveal who's in the team.**

The last chapter is next.


	8. A New Home

Chapter 8 — A New Home

One month later, Sweet had some time to think. He remembered the times when he and the rest of the Legendary 12 were taking care of their first few children. There were some moments where they had to divide up because of whatever trouble was going on in the world. Seeing as Derby is a new child and Fortress is pregnant, Sweet wanted to do everything possible to let both the growing families live without any issues.

He came to Dotty, and told her about his thoughts.

"What do you propose we do about it?" she asked.

"Hmm..." Sweet sounded, beginning to think. "We have 13 bases around the world and the Moon Base in Titans X's care... I'd say you're pretty good at creating new places, right?"

"Yes...?"

"Is there some sort of way that you can make an island just for them? They wouldn't need the whole Tower—just the essential things."

"I actually can do that. However, I'll need their requests." Dotty told him. Something struck her mind. "Wait a second, Sweet."

"Hmm?"

"All the things we're doing for them... wouldn't that separate them completely from us?" she interrogated.

"No. I have no intention of exiling them from the Titans. As a matter of fact, from what they've been through and the potential they've gained from it... I'd say that they could be another division in the Titans League."

* * *

The Legendary 12, as a whole, wanted to make the announcement to those Titans who witnessed the Acolytes' Citadel as a customary judicial decision. After the session was over, all portions of the stage were set so that Durango, Tina, Mina, Thunderbolt, Fortress, Dep and Derby could live without the hassle of trouble. Scorch could not live with them because he had a family to take care of already. Still, he wanted to gift them a gift, before they parted ways; he gave them the five Chaos Drives he used before.

They were taken to an island, about 200 miles south of Hawaii. It had a mansion in the center of it, along with five other houses near the shores, positioned like the edges on a star (north, west, east, southwest and southeast). It was the island Dotty created for them using the Main Base's mainframe, removing most of the Tower's features and replacing them with island scenery.

The B-Jet hovered over the mansion, which was the cue for the seven Bean Titans to be dropped off, after being officially named Team Z. The Legendary 12 flew off, while the other seven Titans entered the glorious mansion.

"Now what?" Durango asked, after getting settled in.

"Let's tour." Tina suggested, putting Derby down so he could walk.

"Where first?" Dep asked.

"I guess the Danger Room, wherever the hell it is on this island." Mina said.

"Hey, where's Derby?" Thunderbolt questioned.

Fortress mentally scouted him out. "Follow me."

After a couple of moments...

"Ten... flights... of stairs. Why?" Mina asked, panting.

"I dunno... I just can't believe he snuffed out the Danger Room." Durango said.

"Yo, where are those Chaos Drives?" Thunderbolt asked again, as things continually kept going missing.

Derby had them, placing them into the system obliviously.

"Oh, that just isn't right..." Dep said, amazed by the adventurous Derby.

Suddenly, the Danger Chamber doubled in size and gave off a very light, but palpable rainbow mist.

"Yay! I win!" Derby exclaimed, thinking that it was a game.

"Wow..." Tina murmured.

"Being Team Z is gonna be somethin' else." Durango uttered. Everyone agreed on that.

They continued exploring every inch of their island. They were still Bean Titans, but life for them had already begun to change.

**I~~~**~~~I**

That ends BTA Part 7. Just as review—**Team Z _(so far)_: Durango, Tina, Mina, Thunderbolt, Fortress, Dep and Derby.** The reason why I bring Team Z into the picture is because they will become a very powerful asset to the Titans League in the future.

If you think things are confusing now, you haven't seen a thing yet.

Tune in to Part 8, coming soon.


End file.
